


Stars

by CSKazaam



Series: FFVII/Detective AU [4]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - 1920s, Alternate Universe - Detectives, Angst, Gen, Suspense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-09
Updated: 2012-02-09
Packaged: 2017-10-30 20:49:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/335914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CSKazaam/pseuds/CSKazaam
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zack is swept overboard during a cruise in stormy weather, leaving him lost at sea. Told from Zack's POV. Note: This occurs during my 1920's Detective AU - both Zack and Sephiroth are detectives on Earth, though no prior knowledge is needed for this scene.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stars

**Author's Note:**

> A blurb done for the 50 Scenes community on LJ! Table #1, Prompt #47 - Stars.
> 
> I actually had this sitting on my computer for the longest time, because I was thinking I had to make an entire fic out of it before I could post it. ... Then I remembered that the whole point of 50 Scenes was to post scenes. Go me!
> 
> Anyway, it will be part of an entire fic at some point - and a 1920s mystery to boot!

Before I knew what was happening, the ocean had risen up and broadsided the ship, ripping and tearing across the deck like a mad stampede of horses.  In an instant my vision was gone, and I could no longer feel the security of the wood beneath me.  Instinctively, I reached out.

_Sephiroth_!

The barest brush of smooth metal slid under my fingertips – was that the _railing_?? – and then a horrible feeling of weightlessness assaulted me.  I felt my heart leap into my throat, but terrified astonishment stole my voice.  The weathered side of the ship spun from my view, and I knew, with horrifying certainty, that I’d been swept overboard.

_Nonono, this isn’t happening, it can’t-  
_  
The plunge into frigid, black waters silenced my thoughts and took my breath.  I couldn’t see; everything was tumbling around and around …  Frantically, I struck out with my arms, trying to latch onto something, _anything_ , but my hands only closed upon twisting coils of bubbles.  Thunder battered my ears as the enormous bulk of the ship slid through the water, somewhere beside me.  Would I be crushed, torn to pieces by the propellers??  

No …  The ship was not too close, but too _far_ , and it retreated from me, like a leaf on the wind.

_Air …  
_  
The need for breath drove urgency into my limbs, and I kicked, shoving the water away, but it was still there, vast and unending, and it wasn’t going away, wasn’t parting, and _would it never end_ …?

Finally, just when I feared I’d gone the wrong direction, my head broke the surface.  I gasped, but salty liquid surged into my mouth, sending me spluttering.  I slid back into the waves.  Forcing myself to kick harder to stay afloat, I at last managed to keep to the surface.  But it was hard.  Rain pelted my face, and the ocean roiled around me, swelling and retreating, heaving and pitching.  It was all I could do to keep afloat.  The waves were colossal – mountains that blotted out the horizon, reaching for the sky, before throwing themselves down into frighteningly deep valleys.  

I rose and fell with them, as the furious storm winds tried to carve them away.  My hair, though soaking wet, was whipped back and forth; it seemed as if the sky and sea were at war, each trying to reach into the other’s domain.  Both were black, and both were endless.

Panic shot through my heart.  Where was the ship?   _It was right there a second ago!_

Terrified, I cast about, struggling to keep my head above the water to see.  There was nothing but the swell of the black ocean.  It had swallowed the horizon, and, for the life of me, I couldn’t see past it.  Was I even looking in the right direction?

After an eternity, a particularly large wave boosted me higher than the rest for just a moment, and I saw it.  Knocked about by the surging waters, plunging into the surf, was the ship.  It was dark, but the onboard lights distinguished it from the storm and sky.  

The craft glittered, its lights reflecting in the water like stars the sky didn’t have.  Hope flooded my heart, and I vowed to keep it in sight.  Those stars were the most beautiful things I’d ever seen.

But then a crushing realization brought me down to earth.   _The ship was heading away from me._

No!  “H-hey!” I shouted, spitting water from my mouth.  “Wait!”  I waved my arms over my head, risking the plunge back into the water.  “I’m over here!   _Hey!_ ”

The winds whipped the words back into my face, a cruel slap to my frantic efforts.  Desperation gripped my heart, and I once again began kicking against the cold water, striving to reach the ship.  

But I knew I wasn’t a very good swimmer.  I knew the ship was moving faster than me.  

I knew I wasn’t gonna make it.

It couldn’t be true!  How could it be that in one moment, I was safe with my friend, and in the next, all those little lights of safety were retreating away?  They were going to strand me out here, in this vast, terrifying nothingness, in the grip of the storm.  Would I be lost here forever?

_Sephiroth?  
_  
With the next surge, the waters rose up, and the sheets of rain thickened, closing the starry ship behind a dark curtain and taking away my hope.

“No!  Wait!  Help!”  My voice broke.  “Can anyone hear me!?  I’m here!  I’m _here_!   _Sephiroth!_ ”

The next wave choked my voice, and I had to focus on keeping my head up.  Fear closed itself around my throat.

They were gone.  God help me, _they were gone_!  



End file.
